We, like most for miles around, were heartbroken last week when an afternoon of play went terribly wrong, ending in death for a young Guyton boy.

A 9-year-old student of Marlow Elementary, Landry Oliver’s name shouldn’t have been in the newspaper to report his shooting and then death from a .22 rifle

His name should have graced our pages on the day of his high school graduation or for some other achievement.

Instead, many will remember young Landry for the way he died. He also will end up a number, added to a grim statistic — the number of those killed each year in the United States from firearms.

According to a report by The Children’s Defense Fund, 2,694 children and teens died from guns in the United States in 2010.

A 2013 report by The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for 2010 states that 31,672 persons died (of all ages) from firearm injuries in the United States.

Of those deaths, 606 were unintentional, 19,392 were suicides, 11,078 were homicides, 252 were undetermined and 344 are listed as legal intervention/war.

One person killed by a firearm is too many. When it’s a child the senselessness is even greater.

We don’t know the exact circumstances of young Oliver’s death. We do know this — Landry Oliver’s life is done. His 11-year-old playmate will likely be forever scarred and Oliver’s family is suffering the unthinkable.

We are not pointing fingers here, or placing blame. His death appears to be a horrible accident and we would not wish to add to the Oliver family’s heartache.